Take a
look at Marvel's 2009 solicitations and you'll see that a number of titles are making a price hike: from $2.99 to $3.99. That's a hefty increase during tough economic times.
It doesn't
look like DC is following suit quite yet, but generally, once one of the Big Two makes a move like this the other follows.
This type of inflation is probably inevitable. Hell, comics were 20 cents a pop when I started reading them. But it'll be interesting to see how this recession will affect the industry. I'd imagine that readers will cut back on the titles they pick up. Particularly if they're a dollar more expensive. What will that do to the business model of endless, interconnected "big events" aimed at making readers buy more comics to get the whole story?
Will we see a return to more self-contained titles? More one-issue stories?
I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of titles bite the dust. And, since it's ultimately more economical to buy comics in collected "graphic novel" form, what impact will the downturn have on the whole notion of monthly titles?
We live in interesting times.
